A Date With the Future
by bionic4ever
Summary: Vis3: fate has the strangest ways of interfering with our plans...
1. Chapter 1

**A Date With the Future**

Chapter One

Jaime didn't know if she should think of Steve as a ghost, a guardian angel or simply a pest, but she knew two things for sure. The first was that, in some way she didn't understand, he was responsible for today - for Oscar not being able to keep their lunch date, and for her tire going flat (the spare, too!) at exactly the right time and place for Michael to come to her aid. She also knew that, as soon as she possibly could, she'd be returning to the cemetery where she and Steve were going to have a little chat.

At the moment, though, _now_ was something she intended to savor.

"Chinese, Italian or American?" Michael asked. He would bring Jaime back with a new tire for her disabled car later, but right now they were on their way to lunch.

"Italian!" Jaime answered. She was a little surprised that, after three years with no contact at all, looking at Michael still made her heart race. They had come so close to _really_ falling in love before Rudy had interfered (with good reason) and sent him away. They were no longer doctor and patient, though, and Jaime was suddenly feeling the warm glow of new possibilities.

"How long will you be in DC?" she asked.

Michael had to remind himself to watch the road - this woman beside him so totally mesmerized him. "At least 18 months," he told her, "and possibly longer, Rudy called me back for a new long-term research project." Michael, too, was awakening to a world of new possibilities.

Later that afternoon, while Jaime and Michael were returning to her car, full of starry-eyed optimism, Oscar returned to his office full of anger and indignation.

His boss, the Secretary, had accused Oscar of not sending Jaime back to work because he was sleeping with her. Oscar had been dumbfounded. The rumors that he was involved with Jaime had been drifting around for years, but today would've been their first actual date, and you don't sleep with someone over lunch. The whole thing was ludicrous!

Oscar had been given a choice: he could stay in his present position and keep Jaime in her present state of semi-retirement, but any non-work relationship with her would be out of the question. Or - he could choose to be with Jaime and take a forced early retirement, but Jaime would be immediately sent back to work on a regular, fully active basis. If it were merely a choice between his career and Jaime, there'd have been no contest. Her physical safety and well-being had been thrown into the equation, though, meaning Oscar's only real decision was how to explain it to Jaime.

"Michael, thank you so much for all your help," Jaime said, leaning against her newly re-tired car.

"I'm so glad I was in the right place at the right time." Michael was leaning on the car, too, and he turned toward Jaime and rested his hand on her shoulder, his fingertips running through her hair. "I'm sorry your day started out so rotten, but I enjoyed spending time with you."

"So did I."

Michael's hand moved from her shoulder to gently stroke her cheek. "I really missed you, Jaime."

Neither of them was ready to say goodbye. Jaime had an idea. "Hey, I'm on my way to pick Lizzie up from the sitter. How'd you like to come by my house in half an hour or so, and meet my daughter?"

"I would love to meet your daughter." He slipped his arms easily around Jaime's waist and kissed her so gently that it felt like butterfly wings brushing her lips. When he felt her arms returning the embrace, Michael kissed her again, still soft and tender, but it took their breath away. Jaime gave him the address and they agreed to meet in half an hour.

Thirty minutes later, on the dot, Michael knocked on Jaime's front door. He handed her a bouquet of flowers, and his other hand hid something behind his back. The baby toddled toward him as he and Jaime headed for the sofa, and instead of sitting down, Michael knelt on the floor to be closer to baby-eye-level.

"You must be Lizzie," he said, smiling. "This is for you." He produced the teddy bear he'd hidden behind his back and handed it to the child. Lizzie plunked down onto the floor, hugging the bear. She was completely enthralled.

Michael joined Jaime on the sofa, his arm rounding her waist as naturally as though it had always been there. "She's beautiful, Jaime; she looks just like you. How old is she now?"

"Eleven months."

Michael did the math in his head. "Steve never got to see her."

"No...I was seven and a half months along when Steve..." Her voice trailed off.

"I'm sorry - I didn't mean to open old wounds."

"It's ok. Yeah, it makes me really sad, but sometimes I feel so angry at him, too. I mean his choice caused this, did this to all three of us. But I know I shouldn't be angry, because he paid the highest price of all -"

"Jaime, you wouldn't be human if you weren't angry about this."

"It was pointed out to me that he's been gone for over a year now," Jaime said quietly, leaving out the part about it being Steve's own spirit that had told her. "Going on with life would be what Steve would've wanted. It would be honoring his memory, and - it's time."

"Whoever told you that was extremely wise."

Jaime smiled. "Yeah, he was."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Jaime devoted all of the next day to Lizzie, since Jim and Helen Elgin would be arriving the following morning to pick up their grandchild for a two-week vacation. They felt Jaime should have a bit of a break from the rigors of single parenthood, and although she'd protested when they first brought it up, now she was looking forward to it, but was savoring every mother/daughter moment until then.

Michael had called twice: the first time to ask her out to dinner the following night, and the second time just to talk. to hear her voice and anticipate their date.

Jaime had tried to reach Oscar, but he'd been out of the office all day. She planned to pay him a visit the next morning, after she said goodbye to Lizzie, Helen and Jim. Callahan told her he'd definitely be in. She had to tell Oscar about Michael, that there was a connection between them that was too strong to ignore. She simply had no idea where she would find the words.

------

"Jaime, I'm glad you stopped by. There's something really important I need to talk to you about." Oscar handed her a mug of coffee but was very careful not to touch her.

"I...need to talk to you, too," Jaime said. "But it's your office, so you first."

"Jaime, I'm really sorry about lunch the other day," he began.

"Michael told me you had an emergency meeting. That wasn't your fault."

"Oh - you saw Michael, then."

"Yeah...I did."

"Oh. Well...good."

Jaime could see that Oscar was as uncomfortable as she was. "Oscar? What is it? What's wrong?"

"My meeting was with the Secretary - sort of a command performance." Oscar had to turn away for a few seconds, gathering his courage. "I'm sure you've heard some of the rumors about us. They've been going around for years."

"Yeah, but I don't pay attention."

"This one was especially ugly, and the Secretary did pay attention. Jaime, he was told by more than one source that I haven't put you back to work...because we're sleeping together."

"_What?_"

"I tried to set him straight, but to boil it down to its essence, if we want things to remain at status quo, you and I won't be able to see each other outside of a work capacity."

"Oh. Oscar, I'm so sorry you had to go through that."

"Definitely not your fault, Babe. But that's why I'm a bit relieved you ran into Michael. How'd that go? Any chance of sparks flying?"

"I don't know. Maybe..."

------

"Ok, Austin," Jaime called out at her next stop of the day: the cemetery. "I'm risking looking like an idiot, standing here talking to my dead ex-husband. The least you can do is show up. You went way over the line and you can either just listen - and I have plenty to say - or you can have the guts to at least try to defend yourself. I can't believe you'd do this to someone who was always a friend to you!"

Jaime suddenly felt a warmth similar to a hand on her shoulder. "Jaime, if you'd like to hear me, the first step is to stop talking."

"How could you do this? Why? A good man like Oscar didn't deserve that!"

"You're right; he didn't. I had nothing to do with that, Sweetheart. It was because of what happened to Oscar that I had to do what I did."

"Which was...what exactly?"

"The only part of that day that I had anything to do with was Michael's decision to leave the office when he did, and to take the route he did."

"What did you mean, 'because of what happened to Oscar'?" Jaime asked.

"Jaime, he wasn't purposely lying to you, but Oscar only told you half the story to protect you from the truth."

"I'm listening."

"Oscar was forced to make a choice. If he wanted to be with you, his career would be over -"

"He chose the OSI over me? Gee, I feel so much better now!" The warm sensation Jaime'd felt on her shoulder grew and felt exactly the way it used to feel when Steve held her in his arms.

"Sweetheart, if it were only a choice between you and his career, you know he'd have retired that same afternoon. But he was probably right in not telling you the rest."

"Dammit, Austin - spill it! Was Oscar threatened in some way?"

"No," Steve said as quietly as a whisper in the wind. "He wasn't threatened. You were." Jaime's fury had been stunned into silence. "Oscar could've chosen to leave things as-is, where he stays Director and you stay semi-retired, with the cost being that the two of you not become a couple..."

"Or?"

"Or he could've taken a forced early retirement to be with you, but the cost would've been your immediate return as a fully-active operative. Oscar does love you; I think you know that, but he wasn't willing to throw your safety to the wolves."

"Oh."

"And there's one more thing, something even Oscar didn't - couldn't - know. The real reason I had to interfere. Can you just trust me that it was absolutely necessary? It's pretty ugly."

"Tell me," Jaime demanded. "Please?"

"I guess I can tell you, now that it won't happen. Jaime, the two of you would've been ecstatically happy, and in about a month, you would've eloped."

"Oh, how awful! God forbid!"

"You wanted to know, so let me finish. A couple of months later, the Secretary would've sent you on an assignment that he knew was far too dangerous - for anyone. But the Secretary has always considered us more machine than human, you know that. He has no concept of a flesh-and-blood person behind the bionics. He would've forced you to go, and Oscar would've recognized the danger and gone after you. Sweetheart, he would've gotten there just in time to watch you die, and then be shot himself. _That's_ why I interceded: that was not meant to be your fate."

"Ok..."

"You know, you should probably leave the flowers and go. You've got a big night tonight."

"Do you watch every single move I make?"

"Only the really important ones. I explained why being with Oscar just isn't in your cards. I hope you'll approach tonight with an open mind and an open heart, because it may be a chiche', but tonight you really do have a date with your future. All you need to do is let it happen; just sit back and enjoy the ride."


End file.
